Grumbling in North Will Have Electoral Consequences, Ali Ndume Warns

• Says Tinubu not the problem but those around him

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume (Borno South) has said there is growing dissatisfaction in the north with the administration of President Bola Tinubu, warning that if nothing is done about the “grumbling”, it would have electoral consequences in 2027.

Ndume sounded the warning on Wednesday during an interview on ARISE News Television’s Prime Time.

However, Ndume said Tinubu was not the problem, but the people around him.

He criticised the president’s inner circle, alleging that he is being poorly served by advisers, who lack political understanding and grassroots connection.

Ndume said to avoid imminent electoral consequences, urgent steps should be taken to address the prevailing concerns.

He stated, “Anybody that tells you that the north is not grumbling now is not telling the truth. It will be loud in their votes if nothing is done about it. The good thing about it is that the president can turn things around.”

The lawmaker said northern leaders had made efforts to engage the president constructively, stating that he personally participated in meetings between Tinubu and northern elders.

Ndume revealed, “In the north, northern elders have been reaching out. I was part of the first and the last meetings with Mr. President when northern elders went to him.

“He was prepared. He brought all the critical appointees from the north, and we had a wonderful session.”

According to Ndume, despite assurances from the president, the engagement process stalled shortly afterwards.

“He promised that it would continue, but it never happened,” he added.

While absolving Tinubu of direct blame, Ndume stated that the president’s problems stemmed largely from the calibre of people around him.

He said, “You know what I’m suspecting? The president is not the problem; it is the people around the president that are the problem.”

He contrasted Tinubu’s current leadership environment with his time as governor of Lagos State, which he said was marked by the presence of strong and capable advisers.

“The president had good people around him when he was governor of Lagos; that was why he succeeded. Most of the good people are not there now. They have been side-lined,” he said.

Ndume criticised some presidential aides for what he described as elitist isolation and lack of national outlook.

He stated, “He just picked people that don’t know anybody. They only know Ikoyi and Victoria Island. And from there, they fly to London or America, where their families are living. They are not even full Nigerians.

“Instead of bringing in his team people that would look at him in the face and tell him the truth, he decided to surround himself with people that don’t know politics.”

Ndume warned that unless the concerns being raised, particularly in the north, were addressed, the dissatisfaction could deepen and manifest strongly at the polls.

OTHERS:

Alleged Procurement Fraud: Witness Takes Responsibility for $6.2m Theft Levied against Emefiele

• Admits receiving $2.5m share

Alex Enumah in Abuja

A witness of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Bashirudeen Maishanu, on Thursday admitted being responsible for the theft of $6.2 million from Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), for which the former governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, is currently standing trial.

Maishanu, who is a Deputy Director, Banking Supervision with the CBN, admitted his complicity in the movement of the funds from the Garki branch of CBN, at the resumed trial of the former CBN governor at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The witness also admitted receiving alongside some of his friends, the sum of $2.5 million as “gift” for facilitating the release of the $6.2 million.

Emefiele is standing trial on an amended 20-count charge bordering on criminal breach of trust, forgery, abuse of office, conspiracy to obtain by false pretence and obtaining money by false pretence while serving as CBN governor.

The charge, marked: CR/577/2023, was brought against him by EFCC in 2023.

The anti-graft agency had specifically accused Emefiele of knowingly obtaining by false pretence the sum of $6,230,000 meant for international election observers for the 2023 general election.

The commission also accused the defendant of using his position as CBN governor to award six different contracts for the supply of vehicles to one Sa’adatu Ramalan Yaro, a member of staff of CBN, between 2018 and 2022 to the tune of N1,210,600,000.

The procurement contracts were said to have been awarded to April 1616 Investment Limited, in which the said Sa’adatu Ramalan Yaro is a director and shareholder.

The former CBN governor, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him.

At the resumed trial on Thursday, the witness stunned the court when he admitted being responsible for part of the crime for which the government is seeking punishment for Emefiele.

Recall that at the time Emefiele was arrested and taken into custody, a Special Investigator, Obaze, had linked the defendant with the stealing of the funds with video evidence, showing how a man cashed the said funds and carried it out of the bank.

Although, Maishanu admitted his complicity before the court on Thursday, he had owned up to Obaze and the police as far back as 2023.

Responding to questions from Emefiele’s lawyer, Matthew Burkaa SAN, the witness explained his role in the stealing of the $6.2 million from the apex bank, admitting that the disappearance or loss of the money rests solely on him.

He stated, “I admitted to the special investigative panel appointed by President Bola Tinubu to investigate CBN activities under the defendant, I am answerable to the money being lost.

”I took that responsibility for the loss because I was inadvertently involved in the withdrawal and that the Personal Assistant (PA) to Emefiele, Mr Eric Ocheme, was nowhere to be found.”

The witness told the court that he did not know that the withdrawal was a fraud until he was confronted with document to show that the signatures of the then President Muhammadu Buhari, and then Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, were forged.

He stated, “The disappearance of the 6.2million dollars rests on me. I accept personal responsibility for a number of reasons.

“First, I was inadvertently involved. Second, Mr Eric (Emefiele’s PA) is nowhere to be found. I have tried severally to reach him and even through friends very close to him. I did not know it was a fraud,”

He said he neither met Emefiele nor gave him any money as far as the $6.2 million transaction was concerned, adding, “I did not receive any instructions from him; all instructions I received were from Eric Ocheme.”

He further told the court that he did not see Emefiele’s approval before the money was withdrawn until he met with the special investigator.

The PW11 said he was inadvertently involved in the withdrawal of the money as he was sure that the payment was genuine, “because I know that the CBN has rigorous processes for payments”.

He said he was suspicious when he, his friend and one other were given 2.5 million dollars out of the money, adding that he never officially reported the “gift” to the apex bank.

He said he had refunded large part of the $2.5 million given to him through the special investigator.

Earlier, while being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo SAN, the witness narrated how sometime in early January 2023, Emefiele’s Personal Assistant, Eric Ocheme, sent one Mr Ahmed to meet him over a transaction they were processing at the CBN on the authority of the president, who had already given his approval.

He said, “About a week later, he (Ahmed) met me again and told me they had obtained the President’s approval which I demanded to see.

“He showed me and then told me that they would now proceed to CBN and obtain the defendant’s (Emefiele’s) approval.

“He told me they wanted cash payment and that I should either go with them or recommend someone to go with them.

“I told him I could not go with them and I suggested that I call someone I know and he agreed.”

The added that once the approval of the governor had been obtained, he and his friend could proceed for the cash payment.

The PW11 told the court that he was later informed by Ahmed that Emefiele’s approval had been obtained, and on February 8, 2023 the said Ahmed and his (witness’s) friend went to Garki, Abuja branch of CBN to cash the $6.2 million.

He said Ahmed later gave him, his friend and one other person $2.5 million out of the money, adding that he told his friend that the amount was outrageous.

“It was outrageous because we never negotiated any payment. I thought it was a set up,” he said.

He added that they deposited $1.9 million with a developer out of the $2.5 million as he told otyers that they must not touch the money.

Maishanu, who claimed that he was sanctioned by CBN for the money, stated that the $6.2 million was never used for the purpose it was meant.

Justice Muazu after listening to his testimony adjourned further hearing until Friday (today).